Using ontological relationships in a computer database
An apparatus and method use ontological relationships in a query language and a computer database to improve database performance and utility. A set of ontological relationships are stored in the database and new query clauses are used to query the data in advantageous ways. Ontological relationships are preferably stored in a tree structure. This tree structure then can be used to reflect the ontological relationships of data stored in the columns of a database.
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1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically relates to apparatus and methods for improving access to data in a computer database by incorporating ontological relationships in a query language and a computer database.
2. Background Art
Database systems have been developed that allow a computer to store a large amount of information in a way that allows a user to search for and retrieve specific information in the database. For example, an insurance company may have a database that includes all of its policy holders and their current account information, including payment history, premium amount, policy number, policy type, exclusions to coverage, etc. A database system allows the insurance company to retrieve the account information for a single policy holder among the thousands and perhaps millions of policy holders in its database.
Data is typically stored in database tables. The tables contain columns and rows of data. The data in the table is related to or associated with other data in corresponding columns and rows. For the example described for insurance companies, the rows of the database may be associated with the name of policy holders, while the columns would be for different pieces of data such as policy number and policy type. In prior art databases, relationships of the data are stored in indexes.
Retrieval of information from a database is typically done using queries. A database query typically includes one or more predicate expressions interconnected with logical operators. A predicate expression is a general term given to an expression using one of the four kinds of operators (or their combinations): logical, relational, unary, and boolean, as shown in
Data stored in a typical database may include ontological relationships. For use in this specification and claims, an ontological relationship is defined as the hierarchical structuring of knowledge about data by sub categorizing data items according to their essential, relevant or cognitive qualities. Prior art databases do not capitalize on these ontological relationships of data stored in the database.
The data stored in prior art indexes and used to query the database do not store and use ontological relationship information. Information that is stored in one column may be related to information stored in another column, but the difficulty in maintaining these relationships has limited their use. This lack of storing and using ontological relationships of the data limits the database's utility and efficiency. Without a way to capitalize on ontological relationships of data, the full potential of the computer industry to continue to improve efficiency of database performance will be limited.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTIONIn accordance with the preferred embodiments, an apparatus and method use ontological relationships in a query language and a computer database to improve database performance and utility. In preferred embodiments, a set of ontological relationships are stored in the database and new query clauses are used to query the data in advantageous ways. In a preferred embodiment, ontological relationships are stored in a tree structure. This tree structure then can be used to reflect the ontological relationships of data stored in the columns of a database according to other preferred embodiments.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:
1.0 Overview
The present invention relates to incorporating ontological relationships into databases and database queries such as queries in Structured Query Language (SQL). For those not familiar with databases or queries, this Overview section provides background information that will help to understand the present invention.
Known Databases and Database QueriesThere are many different types of databases known in the art. The most common is known as a relational database (RDB), which organizes data in tables that have rows that represent individual entries or records in the database, and columns that define what is stored in each entry or record.
To be useful, the data stored in databases must be able to be efficiently retrieved. The most common way to retrieve data from a database is to generate a database query. A database query is an expression that is evaluated by a database manager. The expression may contain one or more predicate expressions that are used to retrieve data from a database. For example, lets assume there is a database for a company that includes a table of employees, with columns in the table that represent the employee's name, address, phone number, gender, and salary. With data stored in this format, a query could be formulated that would retrieve the records for all female employees that have a salary greater than $40,000. Similarly, a query could be formulated that would retrieve the records for all employees that have a particular area code or telephone prefix.
One popular way to define a query uses Structured Query Language (SQL). SQL defines a syntax for generating and processing queries that is independent of the actual structure and format of the database. One sample SQL query is shown in
For the query of
2.0 Detailed Description
Referring now to
Main memory 120 in accordance with the preferred embodiments contains data 122, an operating system 123, a database 124, one or more database queries 125, and a database query optimizer 127. Data 122 represents any data that serves as input to or output from any program in computer system 100. Operating system 123 is a multitasking operating system known in the industry as i5/OS; however, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the spirit and scope of the present invention is not limited to any one operating system. Database 124 is any suitable database, whether currently known or developed in the future. Database query 125 is a query in a format compatible with the database 124 that allows information stored in the database 124 that satisfies the database query 125 to be retrieved. Database query 125 includes a new ontological query clause 126 for accessing an ontological relationship 128 in accordance with the preferred embodiments. Query optimizer 127 optimizes a query 125 and produces an access plan used by a database manager in the database 124 to access the database.
Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 120 and DASD device 155. Therefore, while data 122, operating system 123, database 124, database query 125, and the database query optimizer 127 are shown to reside in main memory 120, those skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not necessarily all completely contained in main memory 120 at the same time. It should also be noted that the term “memory” is used herein to generically refer to the entire virtual memory of computer system 100, and may include the virtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer system 100.
Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor 110 executes program instructions stored in main memory 120. Main memory 120 stores programs and data that processor 110 may access. When computer system 100 starts up, processor 110 initially executes the program instructions that make up operating system 123. Operating system 123 is a sophisticated program that manages the resources of computer system 100. Some of these resources are processor 110, main memory 120, mass storage interface 130, display interface 140, network interface 150, and system bus 160.
Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be practiced using a computer system that has multiple processors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used in the preferred embodiment each include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from processor 110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention applies equally to computer systems that simply use I/O adapters to perform similar functions.
Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or more displays 165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable workstations, are used to allow system administrators and users to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however, that while display interface 140 is provided to support communication with one or more displays 165, computer system 100 does not necessarily require a display 165, because all needed interaction with users and other processes may occur via network interface 150.
Network interface 150 is used to connect other computer systems and/or workstations (e.g., 175 in
At this point, it is important to note that while the present invention has been and will continue to be described in the context of a fully functional computer system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention is capable of being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of suitable signal bearing media include: recordable type media such as floppy disks and CD RW (e.g., 195 of
Referring now to
The system may maintain the ontological relationships as illustrated in
In contrast to the query described above with reference to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
In contrast to the query described above with reference to
The embodiments described above store ontological relationships in a database and allow using ontological clauses in a query using the newly introduced clauses of Substitute Forward, Substitute Backward, and Group By At Level N. It would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that other clauses could be produced to provide a similar result with the described embodiments and within the claimed invention. Further, the same result could be achieved using a Change Query Attribute (CHGQRYA) clause prior to a query with the same syntax as the prior art query. A CHGQRYA allows a subsequent SQL query statement to run with different attributes depending on the options selected by the CHGQRYA clause.
Referring now to
The present invention as described with reference to the preferred embodiments provides significant improvements over the prior art. An SQL construct is provided to. The present invention provides a way to reduce database query time to improve system performance, and reduce excessive delays in database accesses.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possible within the scope of the present invention. Thus, while the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing a database query to return ontological data from a database, the method comprising:
- receiving the database query;
- analyzing the database query to determine whether the query satisfies a first condition, the first condition being satisfied if the database query comprises a SELECT statement and an ontological clause in the form of a Change Query Attribute (CHGQRYA) clause, wherein the Change Query Attribute clause is composed of a Substitute Forward clause, Substitute Backward clause, or a Group By At Level clause;
- analyzing the database to determine whether the database satisfies a second condition, the second condition being satisfied if the database defines an ontological data structure for the Change Query Attribute clause; and
- when the first condition and the second condition are both affirmatively satisfied, performing the steps of: accessing the database; parsing the ontological data structure to extract an ontological relationship for the Change Query Attribute clause; using the extracted ontological relationship to modify an attribute of the database query; and executing the database query to return data from the database, wherein the data is associated with the ontological relationship.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the ontological data structure is in the shape of a tree.
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Type: Grant
Filed: May 26, 2005
Date of Patent: Jun 23, 2009
Patent Publication Number: 20060271584
Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
Inventors: Eric Lawrence Barsness (Pine Island, MN), Randy William Ruhlow (Rochester, MN), John Matthew Santosuosso (Rochester, MN)
Primary Examiner: Pierre M Vital
Assistant Examiner: Christopher P Nofal
Attorney: Martin & Associates, LLC
Application Number: 11/138,836
International Classification: G06F 7/00 (20060101); G06F 17/30 (20060101);